


Unfold

by vanilla_beans



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Drinking, F/M, Friendship, Humor, Implied NaruSasu, Romance, Sasuke has sharp eyes, Spying, kakasaku - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-09
Updated: 2017-06-01
Packaged: 2018-09-15 21:58:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9259238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vanilla_beans/pseuds/vanilla_beans
Summary: The first time Naruto noticed something going on between his former sensei and his best friend was during a late night drinking session at his house.





	1. The hell was that?

**Author's Note:**

> In my head, I'd say the kids are about 22 and Kakashi is 36

The first time Naruto noticed something going on between his former sensei and his best friend was during a late night drinking session at his house. 

It was a rare occasion. All four members of Team 7 were sat down on the floor of Naruto’s living room, surrounding his coffee table. Naruto could count on one hand the times they managed to drag Kakashi-sensei to join in on their so-called “irresponsible get-togethers”. But tonight, drunken giggles filled the tiny apartment as Sakura, Kakashi, and he laughed at Sasuke’s unusual display of clumsiness, shaking his head at himself as he cleaned up the spilled sake that poured out of his side-lying cup. 

“Now we know it takes approximately 12 bottles of sake for Sasuke to become a normal human being,” Sakura chirped, cheeks red as she poured herself another shot, finishing her own tenth bottle. This earned her a half-hearted glare, and she just smiled as she quickly downed the burning liquid. Naruto reached out to the crate of alcohol they purchased, knowing full well that anything less would be insufficient for the freakishly high tolerance they all possessed, and pulled out an unopened bottle.

“You have to start a new one now,” he laughed as he took a kunai out of his pouch and slid it up the slender neck of the seemingly innocent gray decanter, easily popping the top off, “House rules.” Naruto extend his hand to Sasuke, who only redirected the unwanted vial of poison in his grip to Kakashi. 

“No way, what about Kakashi-sensei? He’s only had nine bottles,” Sasuke claimed, pointing an accusing finger at the copy-nin. 

 “Hey, don’t drag me into this,” Kakashi began to protest, “I only came because my dear 

Sakura-chan threatened to burn my books if I didn’t.” 

“Oh, so that’s why you’re here? I would’ve thought it was to be in the pleasure of our company,” Naruto teased, now convinced that the newly opened sake was meant for Kakashi. “Come on, seeeensei. I know your hair is already gray and all, but you don’t have to be such an old man!”

At this, Sakura stood up from her spot next to Kakashi, leaned across the coffee table, and swiped the bottle from Naruto’s fist. She took a long swig, and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand before plopping right back down to her previous position. 

“Kakashi’s not old,” she confidently slurred, “He’s like wine, or maybe even cheese. Just gets better with age.” An airy sigh escaped her as she leaned back against the couch, opting to take another sip straight out of the bottle instead of retrieving her cup. 

“Thanks, I suppose. Though I’m not entirely sure how I feel about being compared to cheese,” Kakashi just smirked at her, almost laughing before swiping  the sake out of her tiny fist. He put the opening of the bottle to his masked lips and chugged, flipping it upside down when he was done to show his pesky teammates that it was empty before throwing it at Sasuke’s head. “Happy now?”

 “That’s more like it,” Sasuke muttered, effortlessly catching the projectile launched at him before bringing his attention back to the mess on the table. He stood up, heading towards the kitchen to grab more paper towels, leaving Naruto alone to witness the playful wink and coy smile Sakura threw at Kakashi when she thought no one was looking.

He almost could have let it go as Sakura being a flirty drunk if he hadn’t notice Kakashi’s affectionate wink right back.

What the hell was that?

* * *

 

The first time Sasuke noticed something going on between his mentor and his teammate was while he was scouring the markets with Naruto, promising the blonde that he would teach him to prepare his own meals with actual, fresh ingredients. 

Sasuke was just explaining to Naruto the methods of determining whether a cantaloupe was ripe or not when he noticed a flash of pink in his peripherals. He turned to catch Sakura walking towards the seafood section of the market, undoubtedly there to pick up ingredients for her own dinner. Sasuke nudged Naruto, diverting his attention from sniffing the round fruit to the sight of their favorite kunoichi just a few feet away. 

“Hey, it’s Sakura-chan! Let’s go say hi, maybe she’ll want to join us,” Naruto said excitedly, and before Sasuke could say anything else, he already felt himself being dragged towards the direction they saw Sakura turn. The two shinobi found it almost difficult to maneuver around the large crowd of civilians that often frequented the market at this time of day, but they managed to catch up quickly.

“Sakura-chan!” The familiar set of pink locks turned at the unmistakable sound of Naruto’s piercing voice, finally facing them. She sets her verdant eyes at the pair, opened slightly wide as a myriad of emotions flashed, although briefly, but Sasuke’s sharp eyes hadn’t missed them. Surprise? Shock? Nervousness? He couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was, but he wasn’t entirely sure if she was happy to see them. Sakura’s back instantly straightened, forcing a toothy grin at Sasuke before she shifted her gaze from them to her companion.

Perhaps the source of her trepidation towards being spotted stood next to her, in the form of a tall, silver haired jounin they used to call their sensei. His head turned towards their direction as well, but his lone, exposed dark eye revealed nothing of how he felt about their sudden presence.

“Yo,” Kakashi simply waved.

“Oh, hey Kakashi-sensei. Didn’t expect to see you two together,” Naruto stated, his normal, bubbly demeanor betraying nothing to Sasuke as to whether or not he also noticed the slight rigidness in Sakura’s posture.

“N-Naruto! Sasuke-kun! Heh, what are you guys doing here?” Sakura asked, nervously rubbing the back of her neck with a gloved hand, the other holding a bag filled to the brim with different vegetables. Sasuke couldn’t help but let Sakura’s odd behavior bother him. What was wrong with her? So, she was here with Kakashi-sensei? It wasn’t odd for teammates to hang out outside of missions and training. Hell, he and Naruto were here doing the exact same thing. What was she hiding?

“Bastard here told me he was gonna teach me how to cook. How about you?” Naruto asked, unable to help his curiosity seep into his tone as the memories of Sakura’s smile and Kakashi’s wink flashed in his mind.

“The same, actually,” Kakashi interjected, taking a bag of what looked to be saury from the vendor they were standing in front of. Kakashi handed his payment for the fish, and turned back to his former students. “Sakura here told me of a few recipes she saw for saury, and seeing as it happened to by my favorite, I asked her to teach me how to cook it.” 

Kakashi was lucky that he was a good liar.

“Ah, I see. Are you guys almost done shopping? Why don’t you join us?” Naruto asked.

Sakura, however, was not.

“Erm, well you see, Naruto, we totally would but, ahh.. oh, my stove might be broken, and Kakashi here said he’d fix it for me, because, well you know I very well can’t teach him to cook with a broken stove can I? I would think that it’s also quite dangerous to have a broken stove, what with the gas pipe connection and all that, so..” Sakura trailed off, looking at anywhere but her teammates burning gaze, “We probably should take care of that I think.”

“Your stove… is broken?” Sasuke clarified, wondering if he heard Sakura correctly, or if he had a mild stroke. It wasn’t like Sakura to lie to them. She had never been afraid to tell her teammates what was going through her mind, whether it was to yell at them, or cry for them. Sasuke’s been around her long enough to know all her tells; knew the way her eyebrow would twitch when she was growing increasingly impatient, knew that it was time to get out of her way once she starts balling her fists. Did she really think he wouldn’t know when she was lying?

He also hadn’t missed the fact that Sakura seemed to have omitted the honorific usually attached to Kakashi’s name. True, he hadn’t been their teacher for years, but it had seemed to be a habit that none of them had ever dropped. Well, at least Naruto and he never did.

“Yeah, well might be, so I think we really should go check on that now, thanks for the invite anyway, see you later!” Sakura hurriedly said, and before Naruto or Sasuke could blink, Kakashi waved a hand as he was being dragged into the crowd by their only female teammate.

Sasuke just stared as he watched Sakura and Kakashi disappear into the busy streets, almost dumbfounded at their interaction.

“That was…"

“Weird, right?” Naruto finished for him. The two ninja shared a look, before coming to the same conclusion.

“We have to follow them.” 


	2. Time

Sakura knew they were following her, she was no idiot. After her abysmal performance at the market, how could they not? Damn her inability to lie to her teammates. 

She hated the fact that she had to lie at all.These were her best friends, her family. She shouldn’t have to feel as if she had to hide anything from them. They’ve seen each other on their absolute worst days. They’ve saved each others’ lives, killed countless men together, even almost died in each others arms on more than one occasion. 

Sakura couldn’t lie and say that her relationship with her team had always been perfect. Just about everyone knew of the turmoil that team 7 had gone through, mostly caused by each other. Sometimes years would go by before any of them would speak a single word to each other. Yet no matter how far any of them had traveled, the connection will always be there, pulling them back together whether they liked it or not. Now that she thought about, it’s probably been years since they’ve gone out on a mission altogether, but she will always call them her teammates. Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi will always be her team. She carried them closely to her heart, just as she knew each one of them carried her in theirs. 

So shouldn’t it be easy for Sakura to admit to them that she had finally found happiness?

The situation she had gotten herself into is, admittedly, less than ideal. The irony had not been lost upon her. As a genin, to be the main character of her very own whirlwind romance had put her ambition to be a kunoichi in the backseat. It wasn’t until Naruto had left to train with Jiraiya did Sakura finally realize that she was getting left behind. She knew that her abilities were, to put it kindly, severely lacking. It was as if the absence of her team had finally ignited the fire under Sakura’s ass, causing her to jump and run after the person she hoped she could be. Sakura was lucky to have had Tsunade take her under her wing, drinking in everything the Godaime taught her with a thirst that could never be quenched. She studied, trained, worked every single day until foreign enemies turned and ran at the site of her clenched fists. It was then she finally abandoned her ideals of love, relationships, and romance in lieu of excelling as one of the village’s top kunoichi. 

Now here she was, the war-veteran, battle-hardened, member-of-the-possibly-greatest-team-ever-assembled, Director of the Hospital by day…

… and sneaking into her former-sensei’s apartment by night. 

Genin Sakura would be crying a river if she could take a glimpse of what she had in store for her future, most likely mourning the death of all her fantasies that involved the very teammate that was up in the trees right now, watching her walk to work.

She sighed, wondering how long they were gonna keep this up. The kunoichi had been successful in thwarting any attempt Naruto or Sasuke had made to expose the secret they knew she was hiding. She had actually been very proud the day that she had fooled Sasuke into following her kage bunshin, sending it back to the hospital while she snuck back home to a waiting Kakashi. Though, that trick had only worked once because when she had tried to do it again, Sasuke had made his own kage bunshin to follow the one she had sent away. 

Sakura was just thinking of different ways to shake her tail when she heard a voice call out from behind her.

“Hey forehead! Wait up,” Ino yelled, lightly jogging to catch up with her. Sakura smiled at the welcome sight of her one of her oldest friends, glad for the distraction from her jumbled thoughts.

“Hey pig. Where you headed?” Sakura asked as Ino fell into step with her. 

“The hospital, actually. Sai just got back from a mission yesterday,” Ino replied, and Sakura couldn’t fight the small smirk that made its way on to her lips. 

Sakura had thought that gods must have been playing some cruel joke when she found out that Ino, the golden beauty of Konoha whose ideals of love and romance rivaled even her own, had fallen in love with a man that was strictly conditioned to eradicate all such feelings from his life. Though all of her doubts and reservations about the two were immediately wiped away when she saw the overwhelming affections in Sai’s eyes whenever they landed on Ino. The Sai she had first met when he was assigned to be on Team Kakashi was no where to be seen in the Sai she knew now. 

“Yeah, he got pretty banged up. Three broken ribs, fractured femur, and a deep laceration on his left eyebrow,” Sakura recounted all the injuries she had to heal when Sai stumbled in the emergency room yesterday. “Nothing he can’t handle, though.” 

“Yeah, I know. I still wanna make sure he’s doing okay, though. Speaking of, are you doing alright, forehead?” Ino turned to Sakura, concern laced in her voice. 

“Uh, I’m fine. Why?” Sakura asked, surprised at the sudden change in topics. 

"Because I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but,” Ino started, lowering her head to whisper, “you’ve got an Uchiha shaped stalker about two blocks down.” 

 Sakura sighed, not sure if Sasuke was getting sloppy, or if he wanted her to know that he was suspicious about her recent actions. 

 “I know. They’ve been trying to catch me slip for three weeks now,” the pink haired kunoichi groaned in frustration. 

 “Slip? Slip about wh… oh, Sakura! It’s been months! Please don’t tell me you still haven’t told them,” Ino practically yelled, causing Sakura to reach up and cover her big, loud mouth.  

“Well, I won’t have to with you yelling like that! God, Ino, honestly,” Sakura growled softly, slowly lowering her hand once she was sure Ino wasn’t going to have another outburst. “It’s not as easy as it sounds, you know? You’ve seen how they get whenever I start even talking to a guy. I can’t exactly just go up to them and say, ‘Hey guys, good weather today right? I like your new shirt, Naruto. Did you get a new haircut, Sasuke? Oh, by the way, _I_ _’ve been having sex with our former sensei’_.”

At the last sentence, Ino let out a less than attractive snort, and Sakura couldn’t help but giggle at the situation herself. As soon as their laughter died down, Sakura’s expression turned grim.

“What if they don’t accept it, Ino? What if they’re disgusted by it? What if they see it as some stupid fling, and it… tears us apart? I feel like I just got them back, you know? It’s been so long since things have been this good, and I don’t know if I can handle it if it all falls apart,” Sakura said softly, finally confessing the truth behind her hesitation.

“Listen, forehead,” Ino started, surprisingly keeping her voice low and soft, “Don’t play down what you have with, uhh, you-know-who. It’s not like you guys are just having sex. You _love_ each other. He isn’t some random guy you just happened to pick up at a bar. Don’t get so caught up in each other that you forget just how much he means to Naruto and Sasuke, as well. You’re gonna hurt those two a lot more if they find out about this any other way than from your own mouths. If they really loved you, and I know they do, then how could you expect anything other than support and happiness from them?” 

Sakura chewed on Ino’s advice for a moment, knowing in her heart that every single word she had spoken was the truth. At this point, there was no where left to hide. She needed to face her teammates with the truth before it drove a wedge between them. She let out a loud groan, earning another soft chuckle from her best friend. 

“Ok, well what about the village? You know, not too many people are gonna be happy about me shacking up with my old teach-“

“Oh, will you please shut up, Sakura! Honestly, who gives a fuck? You love him, and he loves you, right? So, people will give you shit. They’ll give you shit if you’re wearing mismatching clothes,” Ino exclaimed, her frustration at her best rival/friend finally getting the best of her, “Will you stop loving him just because a few random, insignificant villagers think it’s inappropriate? Hmm?”

Sakura was left momentarily speechless by Ino’s outburst. Of course, she wouldn’t stop loving Kakashi. He was one of the only people in her entire life that had never let her down. She felt him so deeply in her soul, there was no doubt in her mind that this was the man she was supposed to be with. He understood her, sometimes before she could even understand herself. Nothing anyone could say could ever make her — oh. 

“When the hell did you get so wise,” Sakura muttered as the two women walked through the doors of the hospital. Ino just chuckled and shrugged.

“Probably around the time you started fucking your old sensei,” Ino winked at Sakura before turning the opposite direction towards Sai’s room.

* * *

 The sky above was a pleasant shade of cerulean blue. White, fluffy puffs of clouds peppered the sky, providing occasional shade from the heat of the bright sun. There may have even been a hint of a cool breeze. It was a perfect day for Kakashi to lay in the grass next to the training grounds, under his favorite tree with his favorite book in hand.

Or, at least, it _would_ have been a perfect day, if it weren’t for the watchful eye of his most boisterous student hiding in the bushes.

Kakashi closed his lone, exposed eye. He supposed it was only a matter of time before they grew suspicious. Actually, he was somewhat surprised that it took them this long. Though, as soon as Sakura opened her big, fat mouth, he knew they were done for. Naruto and Sasuke knew her almost as well as he did, and the urge to face palm at her ridiculous excuses was strong. 

A soft sigh escaped Kakashi’s lips as he recounted how he got himself into this situation in the first place. 

It was that damned mission. Tsunade had assigned Sakura one of those damned missions two years ago, her first one. Of course, with Kakashi’s luck, he was assigned to accompany her.

There had been a small group of rouge nins gaining traction in Fire Country. While their operation had initially consisted of robbing local towns of money, food, and whatever else they could get their greedy hands on, it seems they’ve set their sights on something they considered to be much more valuable: women. After four different towns were pillaged and their young women taken, Tsunade decided she could no longer sit idly while their neighbors lived in fear.

“They never hit the same town twice in a row,” Tsunade began, “Four have reported kidnappings, and judging by the order of which they were attacked, they’re heading east. The next town in that direction is Yutakana. Sakura, I want you to go there disguised as a simple farmer’s daughter, and when the group hits, allow yourself to be kidnapped.”

Kakashi had never been more glad that 90% of his face was covered because while his shock may have been carefully hidden under his mask, Sakura’s was clear as day on her on her delicate features. 

“Allow myself to be kidnapped? But shishou, shouldn’t we just capture these nins?” Sakura asked.

“Normally, yes. But we don’t know where those bastards took those other women. These towns hardly have enough money for themselves as it is, but they all pooled together as much as they can to save their families. We have to find them. Kakashi, once Sakura gets taken, I want you to follow them.”

Tsunade waited for Kakashi’s nod of compliance before she sets her eyes on Sakura. 

“Sakura… we don’t know what these men do to these girls, but I’m sure you have a pretty good idea. There’s a chance they might… want to do the same to you.”

The silence that filled the room was suffocating.

“Sakura,” came Tsunade’s quiet voice, “It’s okay if you want to turn this mission down.”

Kakashi couldn’t help but hear her frantic heart beating right next to him. He almost thought (hoped) that she was about to turn down the mission, but right then Sakura’s brow furrowed, and, with gritted teeth and clenched fists, said “I can do it.”

So off they were the very next day. Kakashi tried to stay indifferent, he really did. He tried to focus on the objective, going over their mission details and back stories. It was hard for Kakashi to ignore Sakura’s uncharacteristic quietness, and while she had given him his full attention when he was relaying the plan to her, he could tell her thoughts were a million miles away. 

The targeted town was about a two day trek from Konoha, but Kakashi and Sakura got there in a day and a half. Being ahead of scheduled allowed them the luxury of an extra night of rest, and they were able to find a moderately clean motel nearby. It wasn’t until they were in the privacy of their room did Kakashi finally confront Sakura. 

Silently, Kakashi had laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. It took a moment for her to react, making him feel more apprehensive every second. It was when she finally looked up at him with tears brimming her jade eyes did he see everything that she was afraid to say out loud, and he understood. He lifted a hand to cup her cheeks and softly wiped away the tears that now flowed freely. Slowly and gently, he moved forward and engulfed her tiny form in his arms. Almost instantly, he felt her petite arms wrap themselves around his middle, her grip almost making it hard for him to breathe.

“I know,” he had softly whispered into her hair as he lightly stroked her back, “It’s okay.”

“I’ve… never had to… what if they… How can I just let them?” she managed to choke out between sobs. She was lucky to have been able to avoid being used in such a way for so long. This was the unfortunate reality for most kunoichi. While he knew of many frightening and formidable women, it was embarrassing to admit the amount of men that still viewed them as weak and useless. It was an appallingly traditional track of mind, but it was one that was easily exploited. 

There was nothing Kakashi could do or say to prepare her for what she was about to face. So he just held her. He held her for as long as she let him. He could feel his shirt getting damp from her tears, but he found it hard to care.  

Prior to that moment, he wasn’t sure where the two of them stood in their relationship. He never gave her the attention she deserved, proven by the fact that she left him for another teacher in less than a year. Perhaps he should have been more upset about it, but he knew he could never have tapped into her full potential, never could have trained her to be the lethal weapon that she was now. He hardly even saw her during her apprenticeship. For a while, they were stuck in this sort of weird limbo, no longer teacher-student, nor were they equals quite yet. 

The return of Sasuke had only brought them slightly closer. They had started seeing more of each other at the insistence of Naruto, forcing them to have weekly lunches or dinners, and had even managed to convince Kakashi to grab drinks with them once or twice. Kakashi simply humored the three with his presence. He wasn’t enough of a fool to think that it truly mattered if he showed up or not. He will always love them just as they will always love him, but the bond between his three former students just wasn’t something he could ever really be a part of. Yet, they always asked him to come, and he always showed up. 

Kakashi had never even been on a mission with any of them individually. It was just a shame that his first mission with Sakura had been one that called for the degrading and exploitation of her body.  

Sakura didn’t let go of Kakashi for a long time. He hadn’t seen her this scared since she was a teenager. It was kind of hard to believe. Sakura was a fearsome kunoichi, able to elicit destruction with a flick of the same finger that can mend torn flesh and broken bones. Anyone else would have seen this as weakness, but he’d like to think he knew her better than that. Sakura wasn’t childish enough to be upset over the fact that she had to expose herself to a stranger. Nudity and sex were too trivial a thing to evoke such powerful emotions from her.

This was about her own self-respect. Sakura always believed that kunoichi were capable of much more than simple espionage and seduction. She believed her body to be deadly rather than sexy. She’s spent her entire career proving misogynistic men that a woman could, in fact, excel in this profession. Now here she was, stuck on a mission that went against everything she believed in, with a former sensei that she hardly knew anymore.

“It’s not fair,” she eventually whimpered. 

Kakashi remained silent, unable to respond because while it definitely was unfair, it was their job. It was something he had to learn at a young age. 

“We can switch, if you’d like,” he offered. He felt the soft vibration of her chuckle against his chest, and he took this as an opportunity to break their embrace. He put his hands on her shoulders and gently pushed her off. She wiped away her tears, finally feeling embarrassed about her inability to control her feelings.

“Like anyone would wanna touch you, sensei,” she remarked, earning a soft smile from the silver-haired man in front of her.

“I’m offended. Some would consider me quite the heartthrob, you know.”

“Yeah, maybe 50 years ago.” 

“Now you’re just trying to hurt my feelings.”

Sakura laughed, and Kakashi found that he quite enjoyed the sound. They stayed silent for a moment, unsure how to proceed from there. 

“I won’t let anything bad happen to you, Sakura-chan. Ever,” Kakashi said. He tried to keep his tone light, but the underlying seriousness in his voice was hard for Sakura to ignore. 

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep, sensei,” she said quietly, looking down at her feet. For a moment Kakashi contemplated telling just how much he meant it, but decided to let it go.

“Just get some sleep, okay? You’re gonna need it,” and those were that last words that were exchanged as he watched Sakura simply nod and crawl into bed.

Kakashi doesn’t like to think about that mission very much. On paper, it was a success. Sakura was “kidnapped”, and Kakashi followed. They found the townswomen moments before they were auctioned off to the highest bidder, and the rouge nins all died a horrible death. All in a day’s work. 

But everyday, he tries to forget the seething rage he felt when he watched Sakura be groped and touched by the hands of dirty men. He might even try to ignore the fact that they left bruises on her body when they beat her for breaking one of their mens’ arm for smacking her ass. But what neither he nor Sakura nor Tsunade could ignore was the brutal, cruel, almost medieval fashion in which he murdered and practically tortured all of them after they arrived at their destination. 

“It was completely unnecessary, you know,” Tsunade had said after berating him for his unnecessary ruthlessness.

“With all due respect, Hokage-sama,” he replied, “No. No, it wasn’t.”

Tsunade simply smiled, and waved a hand to dismiss him. 

As soon as he left her office, she was there, waiting for him. She had bags under her eyes, her skin was pale, and her hair looked like it hadn’t been brushed for days. She looked up at him, and smiled. From then, he knew that things between he and Sakura were going to be different.

That mission changed everything. Not long after, Sakura was promoted to jounin. Now that they were of equal rank, she seemed to be everywhere. Tsunade had thought they actually made quite a good team, and started sending them out on more missions together. They filled out their reports together. They trained together. It wasn’t long before they started spending even their days off together.

It started as simple lunches once a week. But once a week turned into once a day. Lunches turned into dinners. Dinners turned into lounging around in each others apartments. Everywhere he went, she was there. He didn’t know how, he didn’t know when, but Sakura had gotten under his skin. She incorporated her way so deeply into his life that he couldn’t imagine it without her. What shocked him the most was that he didn’t mind. In fact, when she wasn’t around, he even missed her.

It took a him a long time to accept his feelings for her. There were a multitude of reasons why he shouldn't be with her. She was WAY too young. He was a shinobi, he can't promise to be alive tomorrow. She used to be his  _student_ for god's sake! That alone should have been reason enough. Not to mention she had two very legendary shinobi as her bodyguards, and they would gladly rip him to shreds the moment he steps one toe out of line. He's never even been in a real relationship before. He doesn't know how to be with someone, and he would just end up disappointing her. Sakura means so much more to him than he could explain, and he will never forgive himself if he fucked it up. Besides, how does he even know that she wants to be with him anyway? He was an old dog, and she would just eventually leave him for a younger, stronger shinobi. 

But then one incredibly average night, he was layind down on her couch reading Icha Icha while she cooked dinner for the both of them. She set the table, and when the food was ready, they sat down together and ate. He washed the dishes, and she dried them. He had said something dry and witty, and she laughed, and it was like something clicked. This was where he wanted to be.

Two weeks after his mind blowing revelation, he asked her out on a real date. It took her a couple seconds to reply, and he was almost certain that she was going to reject him. Then he was blinded by her bright, dazzling smile as she slapped him playfully in the arm before accusing him of taking too long to ask her. He was so amazed by the beautiful girl in front of him that he has no idea why he had any doubts in the first place.

That date was probably the best date he had ever been on. He doesn't exactly remember what they did, but he did remember trying to be a gentleman and simply giving her a good night kiss. Sakura, being as impatient as ever, was having none of that, and the moment he tried to walk away, she grabbed his arm and pulled him inside. The sight of her under him is something that's going to be etched in his mind forever. He'll always remember the first time he tasted her, and the sounds of her breathy moans as he spent the rest of the night fu-

“Kakashi!”

The sudden, unmistakable voice ripped out him out of his thoughts. Kakashi opened his eye to see his favorite kunoichi hovering above him with her hands on her hips, brows furrowed, and lips pouted in such a way that shouldn’t make her look as adorable as she does. 

“Ah, well if it isn’t my favorite former stu-“ 

“Stop,” she interrupted, raising her hand. Kakashi lifted his eyebrow curiously, and finally sat up.

“What’s wrong?” He asked right away. She sat herself down next to him, and burrowed her face in her hands. Kakashi fought the urge to wrap an arm around her. He waited patiently until she finally lifted her head, letting a long, drawn out sigh. She turned to face him, and he already knew what she was going to say.

“It’s time.” 

A small smile stretched on Kakashi’s face as he lifted a hand to pull down his mask. Slowly, for dramatic effect of course, he lowered his face and planted a soft kiss on Sakura’s lips. She relaxed under his touch, and he felt her arms wrap around his neck.

He probably could have stayed there kissing her all day if it weren’t for the sound of leaves rustling, branches breaking, and loud thundering footsteps running towards them. 

He pulled away and pulled his mask back up as he heard two, incredibly and surprisingly loud voices scream.

“I FUCKING KNEW IT!!!!!!!!!”

Kakashi was sure his ear drums had bursted, and blood was trickling down the side of his face right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will be the last one! Hope you like it, a comment or a kudos would be much appreciated ^-^


	3. and then...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It all comes down to this.

"I FUCKING KNEW IT!!!!!!!!"

Sakura had no doubts that the entire fucking village had heard the phrase that broke the sound barrier. She flinched as she saw two pairs of sandals land directly in front of her. She closed her eyes, hoping that she was hallucinating her two best friends standing with their arms crossed and eyebrows furrowed, their eyes dead set on her.

A moment passed.

Then another.

Just when Sakura thought she might have successfully wished Naruto and Sasuke away, she heard Sasuke’s voice.

“Sakura, what are you doing?”

She opened her eyes and looked up at the two strongest shinobi in Konoha giving her a look that would make a lesser man cower in fear.

“Damn it, you’re still here…” she mumbled.

She turned her head to her side, and saw that the third strongest shinobi in Konoha had laid back down with his arms crossed behind his head, eyes closed and enjoying the breeze as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

“Kakashi, what the hell, sit up,” she demanded. Kakashi allowed her to grab his arm and drag him to a sitting position.

He glanced at Naruto and Sasuke, and his eye widened in surprise, as if he was just noticing them for the first time.

“Ah! Naruto, Sasuke! To what do I owe this pleasure,” he greeted, almost making Sakura snort. This man really was an idiot sometimes.

However, his feigned indifference to their presence seemed to have irritated Naruto.

“Cut the crap, Kakashi-sensei! You guys were caught red handed! Or red… mouthed? Ew, no. Whatever! Mind explaining what’s going on here?” he demanded.

Kakashi tapped his masked lips with a finger, looking as if he was truly deep in thought.

“What’s going on here? Hmm, well, I’m sure you saw, right? I think that makes it pretty clear what’s going on here,” He said nonchalantly, shrugging his shoulders as if it was everyday one sees their teammate and sensei kissing. This, however, earned him a pretty hard slap on the back of his head by Sakura. He needs to have a talk with her about learning to control her strength.

“You’re making everything worse!” She squealed. She finally decided to stand up so she could look her friends in their stupid, intimidating eyeballs. However, she was finding that kind of difficult, and she only just noticed just how much taller the two of them were than she was. Her confidence was slowly wavering, but she knew what she had to do. She took a deep breath before saying everything she’s been wanting to say since that day in the market.

“Look,” she began, “I know you guys have been following us these past couple weeks. It’s been really annoying, by the way. But the more I thought about it… it became less annoying, and more saddening. I never meant for you to find out this way. I never meant to hide this from you guys for so long. I was just… scared.” Sakura could suddenly feel her eyes leaking some sort of warm liquid. Damn it, she told herself she wouldn’t cry.

“I was scared that you weren’t gonna accept it, and I was scared that it was gonna cause tension between us. That’s the last thing I want. But I kind of realized that having secrets between us is exactly what’s gonna cause tension. It’s kind of ridiculous that I would trust you guys with my life, but not my _love_ life, right? I’m _happy_. The happiest I’ve been in I don’t even know how long. This is the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and that’s something I want to share with two of the most important people in my life, so… guys, I love Kakashi.”

She finished her long tirade with a big sigh. She wiped away her tears, and waited for their reactions. At first, they just stared at her. Their faces were blank, and for once, she had no idea what they were thinking. It was making her increasingly nervous, and her nervousness was beginning to make her angry. She waited, and waited, and still they just stood there.

“Well?? Aren’t you gonna say anything!” She exclaimed.

Naruto was the first to move. He sighed, and reached in his kunai pouch. For a split second, terror flooded through Sakura. Was he really going to fight Kakashi? Oh no, this was worse than she thought. She made a move to stand in front of him, but instead of pulling out a weapon, Naruto pulled out… money? Sasuke held out his hand, and Naruto begrudgingly slapped the bills into his open palms.

“I told you she would cry,” Sasuke said, counting the money that he was given.

“Damn it, I really thought she’d hold it together,” Naruto mumbled.

Sakura’s mouth opened in shock. Did she just hear what she thought she just heard? Were the two idiots… betting on her reaction?

“Come on, it’s Sakura. When does she ever hold it together.”

“Yeah, I guess… but I was sure she’d be more fed up with us for following her for so long.”

“Wha- … I don’t…” Sakura stammered, at a complete loss for words. What does this mean? Did they know the whole time, and were just messing with her head? From the lack of murderous intent, it seems they didn’t find her confession all that troubling. In fact, they might have even been waiting for it. Was this all a ruse? Did they just follow her for three weeks in an attempt to get her to confess? The thought of being made a fool was starting to make her blood boil.

At the sudden flare of her chakra, Naruto and Sasuke finally managed to take a break from their bickering to notice Sakura. Her formerly tear-stained cheeks were now glowing bright red, with anger or embarrassment, Sakura herself wasn’t sure. Whatever it was she was feeling was rolling off of her like waves, causing Naruto and Sasuke take a couple steps back.

“Did you two know this entire time,” Sakura questioned, her voice uncharacteristically quite and low. For some reason, this made her twice as frightening and Naruto realized he much preferred it when she yelled at him. He looked at Sasuke, and while outwardly he was as cool and collected as ever, the slight bead of sweat rolling down his forehead said otherwise.

“Uh, well, not the ENTIRE time, Sakura-chan,” Naruto said, “We kinda figured it out about a week in…” He soon found that that might not have been the best thing to say.

“Oh, not the ENTIRE time,” Sakura began, her anger finally beginning to seep into her tone, “You just found out half way in, did you? Yet, you still saw it fit to _stalk_ me and _torment_  me with the constant feeling of being watched, invade my privacy, drive me _crazy_ , and on top of it all, one of you even made _money_  off of my misery!”

The world was silent save for the sound of Sakura’s heavy breathing, her chest rising and falling rapidly in an attempt to catch a rhythm. In all honestly, she didn’t know why she was so upset. She understood their curiosity. If it was her, she would have done the same exact thing. It seems as if Sasuke realized this, because as soon as the thought crossed her mind, he took a step towards her.

“Sakura,” he said with an infuriatingly calm tone that made her even more angry, “I get what you’re saying, but the fact of the matter is we had to torment you for you to even consider telling us what’s going on. Why?”

Sakura hated Uchiha Sasuke, she decided. His calm demeanor, his sound reasoning, it was all incredibly annoying.

“You’re one to talk,” She murmured, crossing her arms and refusing to look him in the eye.

At this, Sasuke raised his eyebrow, curiosity piqued. “What exactly do you mean by that?”

Sakura scoffed, rolling her eyes until she finally allowed them to land on the handsome face of her accuser.

“Both of you are acting as if I’m the only keeping secrets in this team,” she stated, uncrossing her arms and moving them to her waist. Somewhere in the background, she could hear Naruto gulp.

“Are you sure you want to do this right now, Sakura,” Kakashi whispered. She almost had forgotten he was next to her, and as soon she heard his voice, she felt her anger dissipate. They had every right to be upset with her. If she really thought about it, it’s kind of funny that they knew her so well.

But she has to finish what she started now.

“If you guys really want to talk about keeping secrets from each other, when were YOU gonna tell US?” Sakura accused.  
At her words, Naruto and Sasuke visibly stiffened. Sakura felt a surge of satisfaction at the discomfort of her friends. Maybe she should feel bad, outing them like this. But if they wanted to play this game, she’ll just have to play it better.

When a few moments passed where neither party uttered a single word and just glared, Kakashi finally saw it fit to step in. He signaled so with a light cough.

“So, how long has this been going on?” He cheerfully asked, placing a lazy arm around Sakura’s shoulder. Three pairs of eyes all snapped to his half covered face, his half-lidded eyes betraying nothing of the nervousness he felt swirling in his stomach.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Sasuke began, but Naruto placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Come on, Sasuke. Are we really gonna do what we were just giving Sakura-chan shit about?” Naruto said softly. “It’s time for all of us to be honest with each other.”

Sasuke turned to see the pleading look in his boyfriend’s eyes. He knows that keeping their relationship secret has been torturing Naruto. For weeks, the two have been debating on how they were going to tell their friends. How were they going to explain that, after all the pain and anguish Sasuke had caused Naruto, that the two could stand here side by side and proclaim love? It took years for Sasuke to accept Naruto’s friendship, but it was a slippery slope from there and not even Sasuke was immune to the charms of his former teammate.

But deep down, they always knew that it was going to end up like this.

A deep sigh from Sakura’s mouth broke the awkward silence.

“Look, I don’t need an explanation. I don’t even need a confirmation, because I see it in your faces. I wasn’t trying to attack you,” she said. The exasperation she felt about this situation was wearing her down. Almost as if on cue, she felt a reassuring squeeze on her shoulder from Kakashi.

“Oh? Then what _are_  you trying to do,” Sasuke retorted, still a little wary of Sakura.

“To prove a point! It’s not always so easy to just open up your secrets, even to your best friends! Especially if you know that that particular secret could change _everything_ ,” Sakura exclaimed, feeling her frustration starting to rise again.

“Well, why did you even keep it a secret in the first place?” Sasuke asked.

“Well, why did you?” Sakura replied.

Naruto and Kakashi just stood by and watched the heated exchange, unsure what to do. This behavior was typical of Sakura, but everyone present was shocked that Sasuke was being so defensive.

“Look…maybe we should just…. both admit that we were wrong?” Naruto tried to suggest, but it was useless. With the way Sakura and Sasuke were glaring at each other, he was pretty sure they didn’t even hear him.

“I don’t want to fight with you, Sasuke,” Sakura finally said, “But I don’t understand why you’re being such an ass.”

At this, Sasuke’s expression visibly softened. He pinched the bridge of his nose with two fingers as if the conversation he’s having was giving him the worst migraine he’s ever experienced.

“It’s just,” he began, “Naruto and I… we’ve been having such a hard time. It was an internal struggle that we’ve been going through for weeks… months… and to find out that you were doing the exact same thing… All that hardship would have been unnecessary if we had all just been honest with each other from the beginning. I thought we were past lying to our friends.”

Damn it, Sakura swears someone was chopping onions somewhere close by.

Sasuke’s words hit her heart in a way that was both relieving and incredibly painful. She was glad that Sasuke wants to be honest with her. She’s happy that her two teammates found love, in much the same way that she did. But it hurts her to know that this was how they had to share the news with each other.

Kakashi stepped away from Sakura, and walked towards his two other former students. Sasuke watched him carefully, but soon relaxed when Kakashi simply put his hand on his head.

“This is unfamiliar territory for all of us. Sometimes, when it comes to the matters of the heart, people act in a way they wouldn’t normally. We do what we think is best, for the people that we love. But sometimes we’re wrong. Best not to beat ourselves up about it, hm?” Kakashi ruffled Sasuke’s hair, patted Naruto’s shoulder, and walked back to place an arm around Sakura.

Kakashi’s nonchalance immediately dissipated the tension in the air, and the three legendary Sannin just stared at each other while his simple words sunk into their hearts.

“All this arguing can make a man hungry. I’m gonna head over to Ichiraku. See you!” and with that Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke.

“Really, Sakura-chan? Him?” Naruto broke the silence.

Sakura couldn’t help the bubble of laughter that started in her throat, and escaped from her mouth. Once it started, she was pretty much powerless to stop it. It wasn’t long till it caught on, and her soft, airy laughter was a contrast to the boisterous noise that Naruto called laughing.

Perhaps they even got a chuckle or two to come out of Sasuke’s tight-lipped mouth.

Wiping the tears from her eyes, Sakura was finally able to catch her breath.

“Let’s go eat, hmm?” She suggested, and held her hand out to her boys. Naruto took it in a heartbeat, and she and Sasuke felt themselves being tugged towards the direction of their favorite ramen stand.

  
~

 

When they arrived, they found a silver haired masked jounin, sat in his usual seat with his usual bowl of ramen in front him.

And in front of the three empty stools beside him were three steaming bowls of their favorite ramen.

He turned around and cocked his one visible eyebrow.

“What took you guys so long? Your food is going to get cold.”

“Kakashi-sensei’s treat?!” Naruto exclaimed, “Teuchi-san! Please bring out two more bowls!!!!”

Naruto took his seat, leaving a space next to Kakashi for Sakura. Sasuke and Kakashi’s eyes met, before Sasuke gave Kakashi a nod, an unofficial blessing. He took his seat next to Naruto, but not before hitting him in the back of the head.

“Chew before you choke, idiot,” he said, to which Naruto simply smiled.

It was Sakura’s turn to take her seat. She looked at the man next to her, unaware that she could have ever felt this much love and affection for one human being. He crinkled eyes, and she leaned her head against his shoulder.

“Thank you.”

He simply gave her a soft kiss on the top of her head, and that was all she needed. She then turned to look at her two best friends, and wondered to herself why she was ever worried.

It was like everything clicked. Naruto burned his tongue, Sasuke scolded him, Kakashi laughed, and she had never felt more at home than in this tiny ramen stand, with three of the most important men in her life.

“Nee, Kakashi-sensei.”  
  
“Hmm?”

“Now that you’re dating dear old Sakura-chan, we, as her unofficial bodyguards, need you to fulfill one requirement.”

“Oh? And what would that be.”

“You have to take off your mask to receive our blessing.”

“Good one, Naruto.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for being so patient! I'm sorry it took me a ridiculously long time to get this out. Life tends to get in the way of creativity. But here it is, and I hope it didn't disappoint! 
> 
> with love.


End file.
